Foursomes, otherwise known as alternate shot, is for many players the most nerve-wracking format of match play golf. You never would have known it by watching Team British Columbia perform Sunday at the North Pacific Junior Ladies Team Matches at Quilchena Golf & Country Club in Richmond.
The six B.C. girls earned all nine points up for grabs in their three alternate-shot matchesto register their fourth straight victory in the annual event that includes fellow juniors from Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
The B.C. team of Chaewon Baek of Langley, Euna Han of Coquitlam, Lauren Kim of Surrey, Tiffany Kong of Vancouver, Angel Lin of Surrey and Angela Zhang of Vancouver combined to earn 15 points in the two-day competition. Washington was second with 11.5, while Oregon finished with six points and Idaho earned 3.5.
The North Pacific Junior Ladies Team Matches are modeled after the Curtis Cup matches for amateur women. All competition is match play with the front nine worth one point, the back nine one point and the overall 18 another point. Six four-ball matches were played on Saturday with six foursome (alternate-shot) matches played Sunday.
B.C. trailed Washington by a half-point after Saturday’s four-ball matches, but quickly took charge in alternate shot. The team of Zhang and Baek led the way, collecting all six points from their two matches. Zhang said she and Baek just clicked as a team. “I love match play and Chaewon and I work very well together,” Zhang said. “We keep pushing the accelerator and never let the other team have any chances to win.
“Even though we had some screw-ups, I think we finished one or two-under today in alternate shots which is extremely impressive. She pretty much stuck it to within five feet on every par 3 and I birdied it every time. And I would stick it on very nice from like 170 yards and leave her an easy two-putt par. It was that kind of momentum that kept us going. There wasn’t a lot of stress, not at all.”
It was the same story for the team of Kim and Lin, two Surrey pals who went out first for B.C. on Sunday. “I was not nervous at all because I knew Angel and I would work well together and we were going to crush it today,” said the 13-year-old Kim, who won the Future Links Pacific Championship at Pitt Meadows Golf Club earlier this month. “It was fun, I really enjoyed it. It was a really good experience.”
“I enjoy alternate shot,” added Lin. “I think it is more stressful given the fact you are playing for your partner, not just for yourself. But Lauren and I are really good friends so it was fine if I put her in a tree. I knew she could hit it out.”
Kim and Lin crushed their Idaho opponents, closing out their match 8&6 and giving B.C. momentum that was never lost. The team of Kong and Han put an exclamation mark on the B.C. victory when they eagled their final hole.
The players made the job easy for captain Colin Lavers. “I was maybe a little bit nervous coming in, but once that first group got off well and secured those three points like the plan was, it just kind of kept going,” Lavers said.
“We have all been pretty happy and smiley for the last hour and a half or so. Chaewon and Angela just turned out to be an amazing pair. They work so well together and they got all six points.”
